Lafarge WAPCO posts N12.1bn net profit in 2008
Lafarge Cement, WAPCO Nigeria Plc., Wednesday declared a N12.1bn profit after tax for the year 2008 representing an increase of 15 per cent over that of 2007. Announcing the results, Mr. Emmanuel Oloruntoki, Finance Director, Lafarge Cement, WAPCO Nigeria noted that the operating result of the year was adversely affected by several outages in the supply of power and natural gas to the company’s plants which necessitated the use of imported clinker.
He however pointed out that despite this challenge, operating profit increased by 15 per cent over 2007.
Earlier in his address, Mr. George Lourandos, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company said “Like other companies, Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria had its share of the global recession which impacted on the company’s performance for 2008. “According to him, “notably amongst these are gas supply failures that resulted in a total loss of production for 48 to 51 days at the company’s factory sites at Ewekoro and Shagamu”.
He pointed out that for these periods, the company had to depend on expensive imported clinker to keep its business going, adding that this increased the company’s production cost and consequently reduced the company’s bottom line.
“There is no doubt that the challenges are enormous. We shall continue to strive for excellence while necessary proactive measures would be put in place to address those areas that are hindering our optimal business performance”, Mr. Lourandos stated.
The Managing Director who noted that his company has commenced the construction of a state-of-the-art plant at its Ewekoro manufacturing site, said upon completion, it will add 2Mta to the company’s current capacity of over 2Mta. Published under Cement News
